Improve Your Soldering: How to Calibrate The KSGER T-12 Soldering Iron

In this episode, we show you how to calibrate the temperature settings on the KSGER T12 soldering station.

Soldering is a skill that I have been utilizing since I was in high school. Being an avid RC enthusiast, there is so much soldering that used to have to be done in that hobby. From soldering motors in and out of a car, changing battery connectors to ones that are more efficient, replacing brushes on motors before brushless took over, even building six cell battery packs. While I have used a variety of RC and hobby grade soldering iron over the decades, they weren't always the best for fine PCB work such as console mods can sometimes require.

In 2020, I picked up a KSGER T12 soldering iron, based on the recommendations of the amazing Voultar. While it worked ok overall, I was not seeing the results out of my unit that he was out of his. In doing some research, I discovered you could calibrate the temperature settings to ensure that your tip was not too hot or too cold. There is a tool called the FG-100 that is essentially a thermometer to measure the heat directly from the soldering iron tip. At under $20, it is a simple tool to pick up and use, and once you're done it's somewhat set and forget.

In the KSGER station menu, if you push in the knob and rotate to the right, you can select what tip you currently have installed in your soldering iron. You will want to select the tip that you have installed in your handle and calibrate each one individually. I have a JL-O2 and a K tip for my station, so those are the two that I went through to calibrate.

To get to the calibration menu itself, you push the knob in and actually turn to the left. This will give you three different options where you can initiate calibration, you can reset calibration, or you can exit. Upon selecting initiating calibration, the unit will increase its temperature for your first measurement. I cleaned & tinned my tip and placed it upon the pad on the FX-100 and got my first reading. I figured it would be off, but I was floored at exactly how far off it was. My soldering iron tip read considerably colder than what the KSGER thought it was. Once I had my temperature set, I pushed in the knob and it gave me a second temperature to calibrate. Once I had this one done, also considerably off, I pushed in the knob for the 3rd and final temperature reading. Once this third reading was done, I pushed in the knob and was taken back to the main menu. From here, you will notice that There is now an asterix next to the indicator for what tip you have installed in your unit. This indicates that the tip has been calibrated.

In addition to picking up the FX-100, I also opted to pick up the aluminum handle for the T-12 as well. Compared to the included plastic one, it's easier to change tips, it feels better in the hands, and is overall a better put together design. That being said, even after calibration with that handle, I ran into multiple issues where I would get an error reading flashed on screen on my display. I've tried to find several fixes for this, but have not found anything that works. I bought this through Banggood.com, and I've reached out to them seeking a replacement.

Soldering is a skill that is worthwhile to pick up, and is fairly easy to get comfortable with. Having a soldering iron that does not heat up to the proper temperatures can make your job frustrating and difficult. Since calibrating my tips, I have found that my iron does heat up more consistently, I am getting better flow with my solder, and overall my results have improved. This is something that, for under $20, it's something you should definitely consider picking up if you're soldering iron allows you to calibrate the temperatures.

Purchase the FG-100 by visiting https://amzn.to/3kOMlx0

Purchase the Aluminum Handle by visiting https://usa.banggood.com/KSGER-T12-Aluminum-Alloy-FX9501-Soldering-Handle-STM32-OLED-Soldering-Iron-Station-Welding-Tips-p-1362088.html?cur_warehouse=USA

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